Site to blame for hosting memorial for woman who is alive

An online memorial platform for the deceased was found responsible for failing to review the information of a living woman who had been commemorated online for six years.

The Siming District People's Court in Xiamen, Fujian province, said last week that the woman had found a memorial webpage about her that had been set up on the platform in January 2016. It had been visited 43,000 times.

The page detailed the woman's life, including her birthday and birthplace, her profile photo and 10 pictures from her daily life, along with a funeral oration.

It claimed she went missing after leaving campus in January 2010, and her disfigured body was found in the sea several days later.

The woman found that her personal information on the site was correct, and all the published photos were collected from her social media posts.

She believed that the platform infringed on her rights and reputation, and requested the platform to bear liability.

The platform agreed with the woman on the facts, but said it couldn't find the real name, address or telephone number of the person who set up the memorial, because the page was established before real-name registration was implemented.

According to the Civil Code, network users and service providers who infringe on the civil rights and interests of another person through the network shall bear liability.

The Siming district court held that the platform should strictly review information about commemorated people, such as the official death certificate, to prevent those with ulterior motives from infringing on the rights of others by using the platform.

The court said that the platform has the obligation to review published content and take necessary measures to prevent internet users from using the platform to infringe on others' rights, but that the platform failed to do so and should bear liability.

The court said that netizens may not use online platforms to infringe upon the civil rights and interests of others, and operators of online platforms shall review and promptly stop infringements after they are discovered to avoid further damage.